Overview
- Police arrested Noguchi Mizuki, 35, on Monday on suspicion of falsifying electronic records and obstructing business, saying he admitted taking the Eiken Grade 2 test in a pupil’s name.
- Investigators say he entered the boy’s details online and sat the exam last September while working at a private cram school in Osaka.
- Kinki University counts approved external English tests toward language scores, and the illicit result helped the boy gain entry before the offer was canceled when his family noticed a mismatched ID photo.
- Detectives say the application photo looked like a blend of the tutor’s and the student’s faces and are examining whether AI tools were used to make it.
- Officers are questioning the student on a voluntary basis, and police say he took the other entrance exam subjects himself while Kinki University has declined comment at police request.